Centenary news

Centenary College is located at 2911 Centenary Blvd., Shreveport. For more information, call 869-5011 or visit www.centenary.edu.

Alumna publishes first novel

Alumna Jackie Burns Shemwell (’96) recently published her first novel, “The Devil in Canaan Parish,” a Southern gothic mystery novel with Francophone influences set in 1957 south Louisiana.

With more than 150 copies sold in three weeks, “The Devil in Canaan Parish” readers have consumed the story. Shemwell shared that fans are calling it a “page turner” and a “roller-coaster ride.”

Despite the Francophone influence seen in the novel, Shemwell did not take a French class until coming to Centenary.

Later, Dana Kress helped Shemwell participate in an exchange program at the University Catholique in Lille, France, during her junior year. The year abroad was life changing and inspiring to Shemwell.

“The Devil in Canaan Parish” is available on Amazon Kindle, iBooks, Kobo Books and Nook.

Student selected as semifinalist

Tierra Range was selected as one of 10 semifinalists in the American Chemical Society’s ChemChamps contest this summer.

The contest required scientists to explain their research to the general public in a fun, two- to three-minute video. Ten semifinalists were selected from contestants ranging from undergraduate students to pre-tenured professors and flown to San Francisco for science communications training in stage performance and visuals presentation. The semifinalists were then judged on their presentations, and five advanced to the finals.

These specialists are members of an emerging field of communicators who are helping groups explain science on basic terms. The winner of the competition, a graduate student at Cornell University, will be added to a database of scientists who are called on by television shows such as “Big Bang Theory” and “Breaking Bad” to offer their expertise to script writers.

Although Range did not make it past the semifinal round, the youngest competitor came away from the educational experience with an incredible offer.

Range will graduate in December 2015 and is looking forward to applying to medical school. For now, she hopes to someday be a plastic surgeon so she can change patients’ lives through reconstructive surgery.